Refrigerraider and I headed over to Phoenix last weekend to check out the Arizona Endurance series Pleasantville race, a Schillingsworth creation. The route does a 60 mile loop around Lake Pleasant using the Maricopa Trail, Black Canyon Trail, Lake Pleasant trails and some dirt road to close the loop.
Some singletrack appeared on the maps around Lake Pleasant a few years ago and I'd always wanted to check it out as it connects to other trails like Black Canyon Trail and the Maricopa trail around Phoenix. The BCT and Maricopa trail in this area aren't destination worthy, but Pleasantville ties it all together nicely into a day ride.
We drove up Friday morning and did another ride nearby, then found a campsite on State trust land near the start location.
We got to the host's house a bit late and missed most of Schillingsworth's welcome/race speech. But it doesn't matter, once everyone takes off we wouldn't see many people the rest of the day anyways. We did get to breathe in dust from about 20 riders for a few miles though.
We followed Maricopa trail west for a few miles crossing under I-17 and then turning left, where it merges with the south end of Black Canyon Trail for a couple miles
Riding was very flat, good for warming up the legs. It was chilly out at first.
Heading west we get into more interesting terrain as we get closer to Lake Pleasant
This tunnel under the trees was a nice change from open desert
Trails in Lake Pleasant regional park were pretty flowy and nice, and had a lot more elevation change than what we'd ridden so far
Finally getting a good view of the lake, or what is left of it
Heading away again
Not paying attention to the gps track we rode down to the end of this section, then the trail stopped. Hmm. Maybe this was the part of the speech we missed. Turns out the bridge here is out and we'd have to bushwack and hike a bike around. It wasn't bad except for all the pokey plants.
Passing the north end of the lake we got onto a series of jeep roads. I spotted this forlorn looking burro off by himself in a wash. Didn't see it right away but the rest of his pack is hanging out on the right.
North side of Lake Pleasant. Russ was hoping the road would come close to the water so he could filter. We hadn't needed any at the last trailhead but we still had a lot of miles to go and this could be our last chance.
Nice tunnel through the trees
We stopped for lunch somewhere around here. My knee was starting to hurt as was my drivetrain after riding through miles of silty roads and washes.
More wild burros. I don't think I'd seen any before today, and sure made up for it. This was probably the 6th or 7th herd (pack?) of them today.
I was starting to push up some of the steep climbs like this to rest my knee.
Cool drop in to more flat wash riding. I think this was the Agua Fria River, though we never did see any water.
Rest stop in the shade. Notice the bridge in the background on the left. No need for it right now, but there must be water flow in winter/spring.
Finally back onto BCT!
Such nice flowing singletrack, a welcome change from all the fire road
South of the Emery Henderson trailhead we got onto some new-to-me BCT which is generally considered sub-par. Flat, singletrack alternating with fire road, and not very well signed. We missed a few turns and were both out of water. Which made it ironic we found water flowing under I-17 which had not been there earlier in the day. No stopping now though, only a few miles to go to the end.
We got to the end a couple mins after 5 and just caught Schillingsworth as he was about to drive away. Got the DFL as usual. I was hoping to finish by 4pm but finishing with daylight was some consolation. We showed 61mi and +/-4,650 ft on the day. Not a lot of climbing for that distance. And while it seems easy the amount of sitting and pedaling made it a lot harder on my knee. I think it would have been a lot easier on the knee with a few big climbs and descents thrown in. I'm glad I did this ride but not sure I'll do the event again. So much other good riding to be had nearby and the sections of Maricopa and BCT the route uses aren't as good as other trail in the area. It was cool checking out this area though. About 50 of the 60 miles was new dirt.